Adding graphics to a report table makes data visualization easier

Posted by: Lach James

There are times when a graphic embedded in a table adds a significant amount of usability to a report. Whist the guru’s in the data visualization space may argue that you do not want to clutter your tables we found a great example of when a graphic makes interpretation of your data easier.

In the example below we have a table that tracks web traffic to particular sites. As a table this is relatively easy to understand. However, as the after shot shows these sites have amazing brand awareness and their logos are instantly recognizable. So using the logo instead of text makes sense in this context. In addition we also used a bar formatter to provide a graphic visualization of the % of users. This is far easier to interpret than a whole number.

The embedding of logos in the table was achieved using the custom formatter function in the Yellowfin report builder. Custom formatters can be used to transform the display of raw data into a huge variety of formats, and best of all they are completely customizable – you are not touching the Yellowfin code to do this.